Lawed and ByLawed to Death

Steve Campbell | Jul 20, 2011 | Comments 14

It’s always a good idea to occasionally take a deep breath and acknowledge that Canada is a great place to live in. And Ontario? Not too bad. And The County? Absolutely terrific.
The County is a Flagship for the wonderful rural economies that built this country. We proudly look after our own. We built our own economy one small business at a time. And, yes, we have our own way of doing things.
The main thing that makes this a great place to live is our inherent sense of community, and our natural common sense in dealing with the land and our way of life. This applies to the seven-generation families as well as the ‘newcomers’ (who arrived sometime after 1799).
The freedom to enjoy life here is a given. But I’m beginning to think we take it too much for granted.
Freedom in the County, like freedom anywhere in the world, is always in danger. Freedom does not exist on its own. It is a property, created by the people who fight for it.
I believe the County is in Great Danger. We still live our own lives as a community but while we’re enjoying that large bureaucratic machines are moving in all around us.
We are suffering from Bureaucratic Abuse. Like spousal abuse and child abuse, we all see it going on, but nobody talks about it. We just draw the blinds.
We can see it coming our way. Yet we do nothing. Why? Because we get used to things.
We go, “Well that’s the way it is.”
But it’s not the way it needs to be.
We are now so fat with bureaucracy and the rules and regulations that spill out of it daily that we can no longer function as a society.
Check it out, if you’re not already one of the many people who are angry and frustrated with trying to get their phone line fixed, or getting a passport, or proving that they already paid the bill to keep their electricity turned on.
You’ve all been there, at one time or another. You’ve dealt with a bureaucratic system government or corporate that is so blazingly stupid and completely robotic that you wished you had never placed a call for help in the first place.
This, I think, is part of the plan. After four months of trying to solve your problem through 24-hour Support Lines, they hope you just give up and go away.
A quick example: I needed to order $2500 worth of toner for my high-quality laser printer. After two phone messages, several e-mails and four weeks passing, I received not a single reply.
At a hardware store, the constantly out-of-stock item, I was told, “will be in on Tuesday.” After three visits, I just said, “No, it won’t” and left.
Service is shot in Canada. And, with manufacturing jobs in a tumble being outsourced to other countries service is about the only thing we have left to sell.
Here in the County, the situation is even worse.
After years of having the Outside World pass us by on the 401, we are now On The Map.
So now we’re the target of legislation which was largely directed at the Big City market. And it’s an infectious bureaucratic disease, which has spread through all levels of government until, instead of hearing “Would you like fries with that?” you will hear, “Have you conformed to the rules and regulations for ordering a Big Mac? We will need a statement of cholesterol count from your doctor, and a waiver form will be available at the drive-thru window.”
Look around you, and listen to the stories you and your friends have to tell. I have heard about unbridled law and bylaw enforcement, and it makes you want to build a bomb shelter to hide in.
The fire regulation on the Regent was just a start. And who paid the price? We did, through community support. And the efforts of individuals who stepped forward and put their time and money on the line.
Mount Tabor was next. Who paid? Right again.
Damn good thing we can rally behind saving these local treasures. Why did we need to do it? Because of laws and more laws, and bylaws upon bylaws all created to ‘protect’ us from things which have never actually happened here in the County.
Painful as it was to once again save Mt. Tabor and Regent, the reach has now gone well beyond that.
What about private businesses? Yes, they’re getting hit too, with bylaws they don’t even know exist. And who pays that bill? Them.
As promised, I’ll cite some cases I’ve heard. Keep in mind that these are apocryphal stories, and I have not verified their validity. If I did, I would not have time to write columns and put out magazines.
€ One man was repairing the concrete steps to his house. He was spotted by a County Bylaw officer and was told he needed a building permit before completing the repair.
€ MPAC told one couple their garage was not on their property, though it had been built 100 years ago, and was purchased along with the house five years ago. Having been shown the deed, they deferred, but increased their property assessment anyway, because the couple had a home-based business.
€ Police recently set up a spot check to fine pickup owners who had not removed their tow-ball from the back of the truck. I didn’t even know this was a law, but it apparently carries a $140 fine.
€ The fire marshall targeted retirement homes in the area, often demanding several thousand dollars of changes. (In one case, over $10,000.) According to some owners, the changes will actually impede their ability to clear senior residents from the building safely in an emergency. Changes are to be made at the owners’ expense.
€ A group known as Re:Sound has visited local businesses to charge them a fee if the owners are playing CDs. They claim the music is for the ‘entertainment’ of customers and, as such, royalties must be paid to artists and record companies. The annual fee is calculated on the floor area and the number of days a business is open each year, regardless of whether they are playing CD music or not.
Believe it or not, this is a federal government agency, who can demand an audit of your books at your expense if they feel the proper amount has not been paid. This applies to ‘background music’ in retail stores, and the songs you dance to at aerobics classes and dance studios.
There will be more on this County people are gathering to push this back into a territory that might possibly be called ‘sanity’.
These tiny little things add together one upon another to strangle the remaining life out of already-struggling businesses here in the County.
The rules border on the ridiculous and they grow in number every single day. God won’t help us. The government won’t, because they’re causing it.
It’s up to us. Don’t be an apologetic, accepting Canadian. Fight it, or there won’t be a Canada, Ontario or County worth fighting for.

Filed Under: Steve Campbell

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Lawed and ByLawed to Death

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